An earth-shaking roar broke through the skies as teal wings ripped through the clouds. The silver dragon's body twisted as the flaming portal closed behind it. The lesser demon called Seir had been patrolling the area ever since Arlos had escaped, so when the Winchesters had shown up, he knew he had to call her.
Seir was a privileged black-eyed demon who had been given some rank of authority by Lucifer before the fall. After escaping from Hell, Seir had gone off on his own to retrieve the Master's companion, only to find he had no way to free her. Rumor was that the angelic powers used during Dean Winchester's rescue unlocked the pit she had been thrown into, but no one knew for sure.
Seir now stood in the doorway of the Hungry Jack Lodge possessing the body of its owner. The sheer power radiating from the Celestial Shapeshifter spurned a sense of awe from the demon. She demanded respect, and he was more than willing to give it while serving her.
Arlos dove down from the sky and circled her wreckage from the previous night. The smell of blood wafted through the air, and she inhaled deeply, her massive jaw watering hungrily. Humans were nothing more than snacks to her; she needed something much larger to satisfy the thirst.
Her eyes caught sight of a beige trench coat, and a vicious growl tore through her throat. She swooped low around the building, coming to a pause over the parking lot as her wings whipped open. She flapped twice, lowering her huge form to the ground as she landed. The tremors caused a window on the second floor to shatter. Arlos' scaly lips pulled back in a snarl.
"[Where are they, Castiel? Where are the Winchesters?]"
Thanks to Seir spying, Arlos knew they were looking for some mysterious pendant. She had heard whispers of it moments before falling into slumber, but she had thought them to just be rumors. If they were true, and such a pendant really existed, it could destroy her plans to free Lucifer.
Cas stared at the silver dragon towering in front of him, his lips turning down into a sorrowful frown. She was as tall as the building itself, but he felt no fear no anger towards her.
"[Arlos, please, change your form. Allow us to have a real conversation]" he begged, but Arlos would not listen.
"[Answer me!]" she roared, opening her mouth and shooting a searing stream of teal flames at the angel.
Cas quickly flew up onto the hill above the smashed van. Her fire was not a weapon he was apt to deal with alone. "[Arlos! Stop!]" he shouted, but the dragon was deaf to his words.
Arlos stamped angrily and leapt towards the hill. Cas dodged, taking towards the sky, and the dragon crushed the earth into another small crater. She snarled, spinning around as her wings extended forward. With one swift jump, Arlos was airborne, causing a gust of wind to throw the van into the trees. Cas was not strong enough to fight her alone, and he couldn't let her find the Winchesters. Luckily for them, she hadn't spotted them before he'd sent them away.
Cas closed his eyes and called upon his brother and sisters for assistance. His black wings beat wildly to keep ahead of the raging dragon behind him. He turned sharply and flew up, over her head and down her spine. Arlos roared, spinning a full 180 degrees to pursue the angel. However, as soon as she turned her back, the skies burst open with light. The dragon snorted in surprise, pausing in mid-flight to glance over her shoulder.
A stream of angels began to pour out, every one of them holding an angel blade even though the weapons would be useless against the creature. Michael came forth in the lead; Arlos' silver irises gleamed with hatred at the sight of the archangel, and she turned to face him, her body hovering vertically in the air.
"[You dare to show your face to me? After what you did? After all the pain you inflicted upon me?]" she snarled, her tail flickering back and forth with rage.
"[Arlos, stand down. We will not ask again]" Michael demanded.
She scoffed. "[You're a fool to think you can stand against me, Michael]" Arlos flexed her wings, her scaly lips pulling back into a sneer. "[I am stronger than all the archangels combined. Do you honestly believe you have a chance at defeating me?]"
The angels gathered behind him, their faces determined. Arlos chuckled darkly, her dragon voice deep and throaty.
"[So be it]" she snarled. Arlos' eyes began to glow, her front legs reaching out to the sides of her as her four-digit claws opened. "[I will show you all the powers of Hell!]" she shrieked. Arlos threw back her head and unleashed a defiant roar that echoed across the waters and shook the very trees of the forests.
The angels looked around at each other nervously, a worried murmur growing among the crowd. Michael never took his eyes off the dragon, though his muscles grew tenser with every second. Minutes passed without a sound or movement from either side.
Castiel, who was still behind Arlos, suddenly heard the sound of thousands of hushed angry whispers. He turned his head and saw a swirl of black smoke rushing towards them at an incredibly fast pace. "[Demons!]" he shouted, flying over to join Heaven's host. The angels' heads whipped up towards the horizon, and their eyes widened as they spotted the black cloud. "[Brothers and sisters! Prepare yourselves]" Michael announced.
Even without human hosts, the demons could still attack, and while a few hundred wouldn't have been a problem, this swarm numbered in the thousands. A black array of smoke that spread 500 feet wide and a mile long was heading right for them.
Arlos spread her wings, allowing teal flames to overtake her body as she changed into angelic form, a human-like appearance displaying her majestic teal wings and thin black tail. With a wave of her hand, a spear with a crescent moon tip appeared in her grasp. The black cloud rushed up to Arlos, creating almost a backdrop as the demons spread out around her.
"[Seir!]" she called out. "[Take your legion out to the crater!]" The black cloud behind her shifted as a portion of it slithered down towards the Lodge. Castiel's heart rate quickened. Hopefully Dean and Sam had found the supplies he'd left them, or else they were in for an unpleasant surprise.
The remaining demons began to grow restless, as did the angels behind Michael. Arlos's face twisted into a sneer. "[Do you still wish to take me on?]" The archangel was silent, only responding by spinning the angel blade in his hand. The Celestial Shapeshifter chuckled darkly. "[You know you cannot win, Michael, yet you insist in following the orders of an ungrateful God. Why?]"
"[Do not insult our Father!]" one of the angels shouted from the back. Arlos' eyes narrowed, and as soon as she pinpointed the source of the voice, she smite the angel with a snap of her fingers. The others stared at the empty space in horror, and a few backed away in fright. Arlos laughed. "[Such puppets you angels are. Did you even realize who you were facing?]" She lifted her arms, calling forth a burst of teal flame into her free hand. Her features twisted into a fierce scowl. "[I am Arlos, the Celestial Shapeshifter, created by Lucifer himself. If you dare to stand against me, you will be destroyed]"
She had been expecting the angels to flee, but instead they became even more determined. Voices and whispers began to float through the air. "[She is the abomination]" "[The curse]" "[She was the one blinded by devotion]" "[She does not see the truth]"
"[Enough!]" Arlos shrieked. "[Demons! Attack! Destroy them all!]" The black cloud shot forward, splitting up into dozens of streams and surrounding the angels. Michael lifted his blade. "[Do not let them escape]" he commanded, and the angels surged forward to meet their enemies.
The first demons to attack did not last against Heaven's powers, but soon enough, the demons began to drag the angels out of the sky in plumes of black. Michael and Arlos locked eyes. The burning hatred she felt towards him exploded from her chest with a violent scream as she snapped her wings forward in an attack. The archangel swooped down to dodge, and their battle began.
The sky itself burst with rays of light and clouds of dark. Castiel slashed his blade through another demon's black cloud, causing it to shriek loudly as it dissipated to nothing. Even without her ability to communicate with angels restored, Arlos was significantly more powerful than he remembered. Had it really been so long?
Michael, we must find a way to stop this. Our only option is to kill her. No. There has to be another way.
Cas struck down another shroud of demons that had surrounded one of his sisters, who in turn destroyed the demon approaching him from behind.
I'm going to the crater. Keep her here as long as you can. I hope you know what you're doing, brother.
In the blink of an eye, Cas had disappeared from the fight and now stood on the edge of the crater. Sam and Dean had done as he'd hoped, and created a devil's trap around the pillar in the middle. They had also created a salt line around the outer circle – a wise move.
He teleported to the top of the pillar, which surprisingly was wide enough for him to stand on. In the middle was an eight-point star made of iron and silver, though it was dirty and rusty from the time buried underground. He carefully picked it up, surprised by its weight. The star itself was attached to a thick chain, which led down into the center of the stone pillar.
"So it's true," Cas murmured to himself. "The Star of Bethlehem really exists."
Castiel turned it over in his hands a couple times. How could something so small have the power to stop Arlos?
"Cas!"
The angel turned to see the brothers walking out of the line of trees, close to where the Impala had landed. They each had a shotgun in their hands. The angel put the star down and teleported next to the brothers, making Dean jump slightly.
"Cas, what the hell happened, man? Where have you been?" Dean growled, his tone annoyed but his eyes concerned.
"Distracting Arlos, but only temporarily. She'll be here soon; we need to move quickly and set a trap," Cas stated.
Sam's brow furrowed. "We just spent a couple hours laying the devil's trap. Isn't that what you wanted?"
"The devil's trap will only work on the demons. We need to capture Arlos," Cas said darkly.
The thought of putting her in chains was unsettling, and it felt like a betrayal. Whether or not she remembered, Castiel and Arlos used to be good friends. She had always been exceedingly loyal to Lucifer, but her power had fascinated Cas, and he'd often spend time with her asking her to show him her abilities. They had both been fairly young back then, but Cas had never really stopped missing her once she was banished from Heaven.
The Winchester's exchanged confused glances. "And just how the hell are we going to do that?" Dean asked. He clearly thought the task was impossible.
"The pendant I mentioned earlier – it's real," Cas said. "It's called the Star of Bethlehem, and it's chained to the top of that pillar."
"Ok. So, how does that help us?" Sam asked.
"Anything that touches the Star should theoretically weaken her as well."
"Theoretically?" Dean demanded. "You mean you don't know?"
"Dean, I wasn't even sure the Star existed until a few minutes ago," Cas snapped irritably. "I can only assume something powerful enough to contain her will be able to expand beyond itself."
"It's worth a shot," Sam said with a shrug, though he sounded doubtful.
"Yea, well let's just hope we don't become that dragon's fried chicken dinner," Dean remarked sarcastically.
Cas retrieved three more chains for them to use, much stronger and heavier than the ones used for the devil's trap. He attached one to the Star of Bethlehem, and gave the other two to the brothers. The plan was to somehow get the main chain around Arlos' neck, and then get the other two around her wrists to keep her from throwing it off. It was a shaky, unreliable plan, but right now, it was all they had.
The sun had set an hour ago, and the three of them now sat huddled around the Impala's engine. They were going to move in on the pillar as soon as Arlos or her demons showed, though Cas was more worried about the former. Seir and his group should've shown up a long time ago, but there had been no sign of him.
It was almost midnight when the trio finally heard the sounds of trees rustling. Cas stood slowly, carefully checking their surroundings as he walked towards the opening in the trees. He poked his head out, and though he saw nothing, he could feel the demon's presences not far off. The angel glanced back and motioned for the brothers to follow. Sam and Dean quickly walked over to him, keeping themselves as low to the ground as possible.
"We should be safe at the center, as long as the salt line doesn't break," he muttered quietly.
"I lined the inner pentagon too, just in case," Sam said in a hushed voice.
Cas nodded approvingly. "Let's go."
They stepped across the salted chain line and headed towards the pillar. A full moon shone down upon them, providing enough light for them to navigate the crater. The chains were still lying in the dirt where they'd left them. Castiel wasn't sure what Arlos' plan was to get the Star, since she herself couldn't touch it.
Before long, they heard distressed shrieking from the edge of the trees. Cas looked up and saw Seir, who was still possessing Carl, standing at the edge of the devil's trap.
"[Castiel. I shouldn't be surprised]" he hissed. His head tilted curiously as he caught sight of the Winchesters. "[And look who it is. The Righteous Man and the Boy King]"
"Cas, what's he saying?" Dean growled, but the angel didn't answer.
"[What is her plan, Seir?]" Cas called out. "[You cannot reach the Star, and Arlos cannot touch it]"
The demon laughed, and it was then that the angel noticed the crowd that had gathered behind him. Seir's army had gone out and gathered vessels for them to use. Cas' stomach sank.
"No…" he murmured.
"What the hell is going on, Cas?" Dean demanded.
"The demon possessing the hotel owner is Arlos' servant, Seir," Cas explained. "During the fight, none of his followers had vessels."
"And now that they do," Sam started.
"He's gonna want to bargain those people's lives for the Star," Dean finished.
Seir chuckled. "Smart boys you have there, Castiel."
He started walking around the edge of the devil's trap, and his fellow demons followed suit until they surrounded the entire circle. "Here's the deal I'm going to make with you. Give me the Star, and I'll let these useless people live," Seir said, his lips twisting into a sneer.
He approached one his followers, who was possessing an older man with brown hair. Using a knife he'd been carrying, he turned and stabbed the man in the heart, releasing the demon and killing the human. "Every time you refuse, another one dies."
"I have a better idea, you son of a bitch," Dean cursed.
He lifted his shotgun and blasted the nearest demon in the stomach, who was possessing a middle-aged blonde woman. The demon shrieked, instantly leaving its vessel, and the woman collapsed unconscious.
Dean turned and glared at Seir. "Let these people go or we blast your sorry asses back to Hell."
The demon leader frowned, his hands tightening into fists. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, the night sky exploded into a circle of teal flames, and Arlos, in angelic form, flew out of it. She circled the devil's trap once before landing on the ground in front of Seir, inside the salt line.
"[That's enough, Seir. You've done your duty]" Arlos said, reaching out to put her hand on the demon's shoulder.
Seir bowed, and one by one, the demons surrounding the crater stepped back into the shadows of the trees. Arlos turned around, her silver eyes narrowing at the sight of who remained. The crescent spear in her hand turned into teal fire, then disappeared with a resonating crack. She turned her attention to the angel in the trenchcoat.
"[Arlos…]" Cas began, but she interrupted him.
"English, Castiel. It seems the Winchesters are already well-informed of me, so let's be gracious to them, shall we?" Arlos remarked coldly, and she started walking towards the pillar.
Cas, however, stepped in front of her. "Not so fast," he said, his voice laced with suspicion. "Where are Michael and the others?"
"Oh, you mean where is the self-righteous bastard who tormented me for his own amusement?" Arlos hissed angrily. "He ran away as soon as my demons started to overrun God's precious angels. The coward."
Cas grit his teeth. "How many?" he growled.
Arlos raised an unamused brow. "Does it matter?" she scoffed.
"How. Many," the angel snarled.
The creature's eyes traveled up and down his body as she inspected him. Cas didn't make a single movement.
"A little less than half," she finally answered.
The angel sighed, his gaze dropping to the ground. "Arlos, why?" he asked, lifting his eyes to meet her own. "They were once your family."
"Those angels were never my family," Arlos hissed angrily, her black tail flickering back and forth.
She pushed past the angel, shoving him to the side with her wings. Dean and Sam pointed their shotguns at her, and she laughed.
"Your weapons will not harm me," Arlos said, and with a wave of her hand, the boys and their guns were thrown across the crater. She turned and looked up at the pillar. "I will destroy this Star if it's the last thing I do," she snarled.
Arlos held out her arms towards the stone column and began to chant. "Potentia inferni invocabo. Et omnis spiritus daemoniorum…"
The Winchesters quickly rolled to their feet. "Cas! What the hell is she doing?" Dean shouted.
They ran towards the pillar, which was starting to become enveloped in a dark red glow. The ground itself started to shake, and the teal flames surrounding Arlos' hands began to snake towards the rock, conjoining with the reddish glow.
"Da mihi fortitudinem. Da mihi dentes et ungues…"
Cas stumbled towards the other side of the pillar where they'd left the chains. "I hope this works," he muttered as he kneeled down to pick up the main one.
It felt heavy in his hands, almost like he was carrying his own chest. Cas stood, making sure the loop on the end was secure. He carefully stood, using the pillar as a cover, and noticed the Winchesters were standing ready on both sides of it. Arlos was unaware of their movement, her eyes closed as she continued her chant.
"Da mihi tua sanguinem et ossa. Delebimus enim stellam angelica…"
"I'm sorry, Arlos," Cas said quietly, and he threw the chain.
It fell perfectly over her head, and Cas roughly yanked forward. A startled yelp came from Arlos as the chant was cut short, and her wings flapped wildly as she caught herself on the rock. She shook her head in confusion, and glanced down at the chain around her neck. Her eyes traveled up to Cas', and his throat tightened at the burning rage in her eyes.
"Castiel," she snarled. "What do you think you're doing?"
"I'm sorry, Arlos," Cas said, giving a quick nod to the brothers. "But I can't let you do this."
Before she had time to react, Dean and Sam threw their chains around her wrists and pulled tightly. Arlos grunted in surprise, yanking back against them. She looked up at Cas, her brow raised in amusement.
"I applaud you for your audacity, Castiel, but do you really think a few simple chains will be able to–"
She stopped, her eyes widening. In the bright moonlight, the three of them watched as her wings and tail suddenly disappeared into a puff of white smoke. Arlos gasped loudly, clutching her chest and falling forward onto her knees. Even in the darkness, they could see her face pale.
"We need to move her now," Cas said harshly.
"Where the hell are we supposed to put her?" Dean demanded.
"The panic room," Sam interjected quickly. "At Bobby's. We can hold her there until we figure out what to do with her."
Bobby had agreed to hold the Celestial Shapeshifter after clearing his supplies from the panic room. The shock of losing her power so quickly had kept Arlos subdued long enough for Cas to secure her wrist chains to the wall and her neck chain to the floor. He had removed the Star of Bethlehem from the pillar to find it was shaped as a necklace, and therefore could be hung around her neck.
Now Cas, Sam, Dean, and Bobby were upstairs trying to find out all the information they could on the Star of Bethlehem, and Arlos was left alone. The shock had worn off and faded into an unbridled fury.
"Castiel! You traitor! Lucifer will come for me! He will!" she shrieked.
She heard the basement door slam shut, and it only made her more furious. Arlos screamed and shouted as many curses as she knew, in the thousands of languages she remembered.
"[Take this damned Star off of me!]" she screamed.
Arlos was quickly losing control over her emotions. She had never been restrained like this – ever. The rumored Star of Bethlehem was real, and it terrified her. She had always known the powers of flight, angel/demon telepathy, shapeshifting, emotion screening, and many others. Now, she had nothing, and the void it left turned her blood cold. She could feel her powers, but they were too out of reach. It was like drowning without water, breathing without air, or flying without wings. The panic built up in her chest so fast, she couldn't help but scream to stop herself from exploding.
Arlos stood and threw herself away from the wall, but the shackles on her wrists held her there, while the thick metal collar around her neck held her to the floor. Three heavy chains. That's all it took to hold her down. She couldn't stand it. Sleeping for eons was easy; being cut off from the only things she'd ever known – it was unbearable.
"Castiel!" she screeched. "Release me!"
Arlos yanked even harder on the cold chains, the metal biting into her pale skin. Her precious teal wings were gone, leaving an empty space on her shoulder blades. She could feel a slight breeze brushing over her skin, scared the hell out of her. It was unnatural.
How is this possible? What power does this Star of Bethlehem hold that I do not?
For hours, Arlos fought with the chains, standing up to pull against them, the beaded sweat dripping from her forehead from the effort. Her wrists and neck began to bruise from the pressure of the metal against them. With every scream, she could feel her powers slipping further and further out of reach, which only caused her to panic more.
I can't take this! I have to get out of here!
"[Lucifer, set me free!]" she screamed in Enochian, twisting her body around to try and find some way to break loose.
It was useless. Even if she could break free of the chains, she had no way of destroying the Star. Perhaps Lucifer could find a way to rid her of this weakness, but until he was broken out of his cage, she was a prisoner. The sigils drawn on the walls only pushed her powers further away. The panic in her gut shifted to something much worse, and for the first time in her life, Arlos felt a terribly sharp pang of sadness in her chest.
"[Seir! Lucifer!]" she screamed, hot tears at the brims of her eyes. "[Anyone!]"
For five days, she screamed and cursed and pulled at her chains. Dean was surprised that she hadn't yanked them right out of the wall yet, but Cas told him that the traps and symbols written on the walls were also repressing her powers.
After exerting so much energy, and at such high levels of stress, Arlos finally broke down. She collapsed to her knees on the cold, concrete floor. Her body was drenched with sweat, eyes blurry with tears. Her throat was raw and painfully sore. Being cut off from her power had made her more human than she realized.
Not long after, the door of the panic room unlocked with a loud clang. Arlos tried to pull herself up to her feet without avail. Cas and the Winchesters stepped inside, keeping to the other side of the room. Even without her powers, she could sense their fear. She glanced up at them, her tearful silver eyes glowing with rage.
"Why?" she hissed quietly. "Why do you keep me locked up here?"
"You know damn well why," Dean barked irritably.
"I should be out there with Lilith! Finding a way to free my master!" Arlos shrieked. She made a futile attempt to lunge forward, but her body wouldn't respond to her.
"You're not going anywhere, sweetheart," Dean said smugly, drawing a hiss of frustration from their captive. "We're keeping you right here until we throw Satan back in his cage."
"No!" Arlos shouted, the chains rattling as she pulled against them. "I must be reunited with my master, I must!"
Cas sighed quietly, and he glanced up at the brothers. "May I have a moment alone with her?" he asked.
Sam nodded. "Sure thing, Cas," he said, grabbing Dean by the shoulder and leading him out.
Once they were alone, Cas approached Arlos and kneeled down in front of her. She was tempted to spit on his face, but the temptation faded as she noticed the defeated spirit in his eyes.
"[Did you stay so you could mock me?]" she snarled angrily, thinking he was only trying to imitate her.
A half-smile crossed Cas' lips, and he slowly reached out his hand to her right cheek. Arlos froze in place, the feeling of another being touching her bringing back a rush of memories. She had nearly forgotten what it was like.
"[I stayed to remind you that we were once family, Arlos]" Cas murmured gently. "[You were never alone, despite what Michael and Raphael made you think]"
His bright blue eyes dimmed as a wave of sadness washed over him. Arlos had always tried to distance herself from emotions, but the guilt hovering over her could not be ignored. She felt tears returning to the edges of her eyes.
"[Castiel]" she whispered hoarsely.
That was all the push he needed to wrap his arms around her in a warm embrace, and she buried her head in his shoulder. Her shoulders shook as she sobbed quietly, releasing the anger she'd felt moments before.
Yes, Arlos was devoted to Lucifer and would follow him to the bitter end, but Castiel represented a part of Heaven she had always secretly longed for. His acceptance of her had made things bearable. Even now, when she was powerless, broken, and a prisoner to the Winchesters, Castiel remained as her support. For that, she would be forever grateful.